Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, with reference to Article 20.4 of the UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, on what dates the SME contact points for small and medium enterprises have met since the agreement came into effect.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The UK and Japan exchanged contact points for all areas of the agreement in December 2020. Japan shared contact points with the UK on the 18 December 2020. The UK shared contact points with Japan on the 24 December 2020.
The UK small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) contact points have attended all meetings of the Committees and Working Groups established by the UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement. The contact points for UK and Japan have not met to specifically discuss SMEs, but have discussed more generally utilisation of the Free Trade Agreement by business.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, with reference to Article 20.4 of the UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, whether either party has recommended to the Joint Committee the inclusion of additional information by the parties in their respective websites.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Article 20.4.3 establishes that the UK and Japan may, in accordance with each Party's rules and procedures, recommend the inclusion of additional information by the Parties in their respective websites.
At the first meeting of the UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement’s Committee on Trade in Goods, the UK and Japan discussed including a contact point for Japanese Customs on the UK Government website. This will help Japanese importers identify the correct commodity code for goods entering Japan from the UK.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, with reference to Article 20.2 of the UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, what assessment she has made of the impact of the work of her Department since the agreement came into effect on cooperation between the UK and Japan to (a) identify ways to assist small and medium enterprises to take advantage of commercial agreements and (b) promote and facilitate trade and investment opportunities for small and medium sized enterprises.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The UK and Japan are cooperating to implement the dedicated small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) chapter that ensures SMEs are provided with the tools and resources necessary to seize the opportunities of exporting to Japan, including through the use of an SME website and a searchable database for tariffs. The UK and Japan have shared contact points for the SME chapter. The UK SME contact points have attended all meetings of the Committees and Working Groups established by the UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA).
To assess the impact of this work, the Department for International Trade has committed to publishing a biennial Free Trade Agreement monitoring report, starting in 2023, and a comprehensive ex-post evaluation report for the UK-Japan CEPA within 5 years of the agreement entering into force. This evaluation will cover a broad range of impacts, including impacts on SMEs.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, with reference to Article 20.2 of the UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, which non-governmental organisations her Department has promoted cooperation between to assist the business of small and medium enterprises since that agreement came into effect.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The UK Government promotes the UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) to business via Export to Japan, a not-for-profit organisation, part funded by the Department for International Trade (DIT), that helps UK businesses enter the Japanese market.
DIT also promotes cooperation through other non-governmental organisations that operate in Japan including the British Chamber of Commerce and the Japan British Market Council as well as JETRO (Japan External Trade Organisation).
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, with reference to Article 8.83 of the UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, how many discussions (a) ministers and (b) officials from her Department have had with the Japanese Government in which the challenges for small and medium sized enterprises in the use of electronic commerce has been discussed.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The UK and Japan held their first Committee on Trade in Services, Investment Liberalisation and Electronic Commerce under the UK-Japan Comprehensive Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between officials on 1st November 2021. The UK and Japan discussed mutually beneficial cooperation to promote digitalisation including through e-government and applications being accepted in electronic format, which is of particular relevance to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). We will continue to consider challenges for SMEs moving forward.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, with reference to Article 14.80 of the UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, what assessment she has made of the impact of the (a) exchange of information, (b) sharing of experiences and skills and (c) any other form of cooperation or activities regarding intellectual property issues relevant to small and medium sized enterprises that has taken place between the UK and Japan since that agreement came into effect.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The UK and Japan are working well together to implement the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement. The UK and Japan held their first Committee on Intellectual Property on 28 October 2022. The UK and Japan provided updates on relevant work on their respective domestic intellectual property regulations, this included Japan’s revisions to its Copyright Act and the UK’s Counter Infringement Strategy. The UK continues to engage with Japan regularly on matters relating to intellectual property.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, with reference to Article 4.6 of the UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the work of her Department in reducing the time and costs for (a) all businesses and (b) small and medium-sized enterprises since that agreement came into effect.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The first meeting of the Joint Customs Cooperation Committee (JCCC) will be held in 2023. The UK and Japan will work towards further simplification of their respective customs procedures.
The UK makes its facilitations available to all traders fulfilling certain criteria, regardless of the size or sector of the business.
A comprehensive evaluation report for the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, published within 5 years of the agreement entering into force, will cover a broad range of impacts, including the impact on small and medium-sized enterprises.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, with reference to Article 8.82 of the UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the steps taken by her Department to identify ways to expand access to and use of public government information for (a) all businesses and (b) small and medium sized enterprises since that agreement came into effect.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The UK values our cooperation and close work with Japan to implement this UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) successfully. The CEPA Open Government Data provisions encourage the publication of appropriate government datasets in an accessible format. These provisions are particularly beneficial to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), as they can gain access to accurate and reliable datasets without having to collect the information themselves, which can be costly.
The Department for International Trade has committed to publishing a comprehensive evaluation report for the UK-Japan CEPA within five years of the agreement entering into force. This evaluation will cover a broad range of impacts, including the impact on SMEs.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, with reference to Article 8.82 of the UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, what assessment she has made of the steps taken by the Japanese Government to identify ways to expand access to and use of public government information for (a) all businesses and (b) small and medium sized enterprises since that agreement came into effect.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The UK values our cooperation and close work with Japan to implement this UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) successfully. The CEPA Open Government Data provisions encourage the publication of appropriate government datasets in an accessible format. These provisions are particularly beneficial to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), as they can gain access to accurate and reliable datasets without having to collect the information themselves, which can be costly.
The Department for International Trade has committed to publishing a comprehensive evaluation report for the UK-Japan CEPA within five years of the agreement entering into force. This evaluation will cover a broad range of impacts, including the impact on SMEs.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, with reference to Article 17.2 of the UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, what assessment she has made of the work of the Japanese government to implement a transparent, effective and predictable regulatory environment since the Agreement came into effect.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Article 17.2 of the UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) establishes that the UK and Japan shall provide for a transparent regulatory environment. The CEPA agreement includes one of the UK’s first standalone Good Regulatory Practices and Regulatory Cooperation (GRPRC) chapters which commits both parties to improving and maintaining a stable, predictable and transparent regulatory environment for businesses. The CEPA GRPRC chapter includes commitments to open and accessible public consultations for regulations in development, and robust regulatory impact assessments to ensure regulations are proportionate. The CEPA also establishes a Committee on Regulatory Cooperation to discuss these matters.